This invention relates to a novel paper towel sheet dispenser. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a single hand, paper towel sheet dispenser that does not require a user to hold a roll of serrated, paper towel sheets with one hand in order to facilely tear off a desired number of the paper towel sheets.
Paper towels are routinely used in kitchens, restaurants and other settings where food is prepared and served. No matter where food is served, paper towel dispensers are often used to dispense paper towel sheets to clean up spills or to clean tables, floors and kitchen appliances. In addition, paper towel dispensers are often used in recreational settings, in addition to garages, auto or wood working shops and in other work or recreational areas where people need to absorb or wipe-up a spill, dry a surface or simply clean and/or dry their hands. Paper towels are usually sold in a roll having a width of approximately eleven inches or so and sheets of approximately six to fifteen inches in length connected end-to-end along serrated tear lines. The paper towel sheets are wound upon a paper core of approximately an inch in diameter and sell with a retail diameter of the roll of about four to five inches in diameter.
Paper towels are often formed from one or two ply sheets of absorbent paper material. One brand of such paper towel product is known as BOUNTY, which is a registered trademark of the Procter and Gamble Company. This brand comes in sheet lengths of a few inches or so to approximately eleven-by-eleven inches square. Another brand is referred to as BRAWNY which is a registered trademark of the Fort James Corporation and is conventionally sold in a roll of sheets eleven inches wide by thirteen point eight inches in length joined end-to-end along serration tear lines. In certain instances, sheets of paper towels may have other length and width dimensions, however, most disposable paper towel rolls have periodic transverse serrations to facilitate separation of discrete lengths or sheets.
The above paper towel products are often dispensed by using a simple U-shaped bracket holder. These holders are usually designed to be mounted upon a vertical wall surface or beneath a horizontal wood cabinet by wood screws. Each end of the U-shaped bracket is designed to hold one end of the paper towel core or alternatively a rod can be axially extended through the center of the paper core and mounted at its ends between the U-shaped bracket or frame. At least one disadvantage of traditional paper towel dispensers, including a simple U-shaped bracket holder, is that a person usually needs to use both hands to dispense the paper towels. This disadvantage represents an inconvenience and difficulty for some people, when one hand is holding a container, object of use, or is otherwise soiled or occupied. In such moments, the only option, in most instances, is for a person to find a place to set the container or other object of use so that both hands are free to tear off one or more sheets of paper towels. If a user attempts to use inertia and jerk a few sheets of towel from a roll, the roll often unreels. The user is then left with the task of rewinding unused lengths of towel segments. In other instances, if a user attempts to use inertia to tear sheets from a paper towel roll, the entire roll may be pulled off the holder. The user must then pick up the roll rewind any useful portion and reposition the roll on the holder. Still further, if a roll of towels is held with one hand, and a length of towel ripped off with the other, the sheets of paper towels may not tear at the serrated edges between individual sheets. This leaves uneven or jagged edges or strips of paper sheets hanging from the roll.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a means for dispensing different types of serrated, paper, towels that only requires a user to use a single hand to facilely tear off any length of paper towel desired in a reliable and convenient manner. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated paper sheets wherein a user can use a single hand to tear off serrated, paper towel sheets without touching or soiling other sheets of the roll of paper towels with a user""s hand.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers, including dispensers for paper towels, are often poorly designed or cheaply produced which means that a roll of paper towels often falls off the dispenser when a person attempts to tear off a segment. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a paper sheet dispenser that is rugged and reliable in design and function and will securely retain a roll of paper towels during a dispensing procedure.
At least one paper towel dispenser, known in the past, that is designed to operate with one hand, includes a pair of nesting plastic yokes that are pivotally connected to a base plate. In this design, a paper towel roll is mounted on one of the yokes and trained over a top edge of the other yoke for tearing by a downward movement. In one embodiment this tearing operation is enhanced by use of tooth-shaped projections or a sharp blade fitted at an edge of the second yoke to assist in separating a desired length of towel from a roll This design, although more convenient than most traditional roll dispensers, is composed of relatively lightweight plastic and a multipart mounting mechanism for the yokes. Accordingly, this design lacks ruggedness and does not take advantage of gravity to assist in a dispensing process. Moreover the tear mechanism is simply an over a yoke bar design that is lacking user friendliness for a one handed operation.
In at least one further prior design, a roll of paper towels was operably received within a trough with a slit along one edge of the bottom of the trough. A free end of the roll of towels was trained through the slit and therefore operated as a dispensing unit. In this device there is nothing to brake rotation of the roll, except a user""s second hand, and therefore while this design will dispense towel segments it exhibits many of the limitations of prior designs.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers do not provide an effective mechanism for limiting the unreeling of a roll of paper towels except with the use of two hands. If would be desirable to enable a user to dispense one or more paper towel sheets using a single hand. Moreover, it would be useful to enable a user, relying on just one hand, to be able to reliably and conveniently dispense paper sheets from a dispenser mounted either against a wall or under a cabinet.
In the past paper sheet dispensers also do not have means for mounting the dispenser in different positions in a manner that provides for alternative left or right side loading of a roll of serrated, paper towel sheets on the dispenser and reliable single hand operation of the dispenser. Bi-directional loading and operation of a paper towel sheet dispenser enables a user to use a single hand to tear off a desired number of sheets of paper towels from either the left side or right side of the dispenser in a reliable and convenient manner. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated, paper towel sheets such that the dispensing unit can be mounted in different positions, such as against a generally vertical surface or in a generally horizontal mounting position such as under a cabinet, either in a kitchen or other work or recreational area, wherein the dispensing means is designed for reversible loading and operation. Such dispensing means would enable a user to reliably and conveniently mount a serrated, paper sheet, dispenser on either the right side or left side of a generally planar surface, for convenient dispensing of serrated, paper towel sheets. It would also be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated, paper towel sheets that can be mounted on a wood or plastic surface with screws or on a metallic surface by utilizing a permanent magnet, and optionally wherein the base may be utilized to display personal or decorative pictures or designs or information for ready reference.
It would further be desirable, in at least one embodiment of the invention, to provide a means for dispensing serrated paper sheets, including paper towels, wherein the dispensing means is composed of heavy gauge wire material or other construction which provides not only strength to the structure but also a significant gravity component that assists in braking action during removal of a length of paper segments from a roll by a user using a single hand during a dispensing operation.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated paper sheets, including paper towels, wherein a torsion spring or elastic band facilitates a wall mount or under-cabinet operation of the serrated paper sheet dispensing means at a plurality of angles with respect to a base of the dispenser. In wall and under-cabinet mounting positions, such a device as a torsion spring or an elastic band can function to keep tension between the dispensing unit and the roll of serrated paper sheets. When such a device is present, the serrated, paper towel sheet dispensing means can also be mounted vertically.
Still further, since paper towels are usually located in user traffic areas, it would be desirable to provide a single hand, serrated, paper towel, sheet dispenser that is operable to display a photograph or item of decoration or personal interest. In this, it would be desirable to have the base component of such a dispenser optionally fitted with a photo frame, a tile frame, or a stainless steel (long, narrow metal) element These frame options operably receive a flexible magnet on the reverse side, or other mounting arrangement.
In view of the limitations of traditional paper towel sheet dispensers, it would be therefore be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated paper towel sheets that enables a user to dispense serrated paper towel sheets with a single hand in a reliable and convenient manner, and which incorporates novel, desirable elements referred to above.
The difficulties and limitations suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many which demonstrate that paper towel dispensers appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a single hand, serrated, paper towel, sheet dispenser that will obviate or minimize problems and achieve desired advantages of the type previously described.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a single hand, serrated, paper towel sheet dispenser wherein a desired length of one or more serrated paper towel sheets, may be facilely removed by one free hand without using a second hand that may be in use, soiled or otherwise occupied.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser wherein the dispenser may be mounted in a position for loading and dispensing paper towels on either the right side or left side of a base plate, such that a user may use a single hand to operably dispense a desired length of serrated paper sheets when the dispenser is mounted on either the right side or the left side of a base plate.
It is another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel sheet dispenser wherein a user can slide the dispensing unit out of a base plate, and reinsert the dispensing unit in the reverse side of a base plate for loading and dispensing of serrated paper sheets.
It is another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel sheet dispenser wherein the dispenser may be operably mounted on vertical wood, plastic or metal surfaces or beneath horizontal surfaces such as cabinets.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser wherein a mounting bracket can be used to secure the paper sheet dispenser in a stationary position and prevent undesired movement of the dispenser during a paper sheet dispensing operation.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser wherein the dispenser continues to be highly effective in use, with only one hand, even as the size of the roll of serrated paper sheets decreases.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser wherein a user may operably display messages, or photographs or other items of a personal nature with the bi-directional, serrated, paper towel sheet dispenser.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser wherein the core of the dispenser is securely retained and will not allow a serrated, paper towel sheet to slip off of the dispenser when a paper sheet segment is torn from the dispenser.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel dispenser where the core of the serrated paper sheet dispenser may be securely held against wobble and undesired unreeling while permitting selective rotation to permit controlled single hand dispensing of serrated, paper towel sheets, including paper towel sheets.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated paper sheet dispenser wherein a roll of serrated paper towel sheets is automatically and securely retained to prevent rotation as a sheet of paper towel is torn from the roll.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated paper sheet dispenser wherein undesired unreeling of long lengths of serrated paper sheets is avoided even though a selective length of a serrated paper sheet segment is torn off with a single, one handed, stroke.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel sheet dispenser wherein engagement of the surface of a roll of paper towel sheets is enhanced to facilitate a one handed dispensing operation.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide a bi-directional, single hand, serrated, paper towel sheet dispensing system that during the sequence of tearing off a paper towel sheet will concomitantly leave a short segment of a next serrated, paper towel sheet to grasp for a subsequent dispensing operation.
A preferred embodiment of the invention, which is intended to accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects, includes a single hand, paper towel sheet dispenser comprising a base, a core holder operable to rotatably hold a roll of serrated, paper towel sheet segments connected together end-to-end along perforated tear lines, and a single hand paper towel dispensing bale. The single hand dispensing bale includes a first brake bar and a second generally parallel tear bar. The parallel bars of the single hand dispensing bale receives a length of paper towel in a dispensing path that operably secures the towel roll against rotation by the braking bar and concomitantly provides a tear bar, separated from the roll of paper towel sheets, such that individual sheets of a segmented paper towel roll can be facilely dispensed with one hand.